Post-Election Audit Confirms Accuracy of May Election;
Security Directive Mandates New Requirements for Safeguarding Voting Equipment
Geauga County Board of Elections (BOE) - Special Meeting 6/4/2025
Meeting Info: Special Meeting on June 4, 2025 at 9:00 am in BOE Conference Room at 470 Center St, Bldg 6A, Chardon, OH, 44024. Attendance options were both in-person and virtual, via Microsoft Teams. An agenda was provided in advance and copies were distributed to all attendees.
Attendance: Present were:
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Board Chair - Dennis Pavella
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Board Member - Joan Windnagel
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Board Member - Richard Piraino
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Director - Michelle Lane
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Deputy Director - Nora McGinnis
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Office Administrator - Scott Daisher
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Board Member - Janet Carson
County Representatives: From Automatic Data Processing (ADP), Frank Antenucci, Deputy Chief Administrator and Chief Information Security Officer
Appointed Election Observers: None
Others: Virtually, 1 member of the public and Shelly Lewis, LWV Geauga Observer.
Call to Order: 9:12 am
Minutes: None presented
Payment of Bills: Bills totaling $897.24 were approved, and included:
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$460.00 for OAEO (Ohio Association of Election Officials) training courses
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$252.29 for routine office supplies
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$184.95 for monthly copier contract
ADP/Geauga County Office Building (GCOB) Update: Mr. Antenucci reported:
Elevator Camera Project - Following the May 22, 2025 board meeting, Mr. Antenucci met with County Prosecutor Jim Flaiz, who prepared an email to Schindler Elevator compelling their timely presence onsite. Schindler determined that 18 gauge data cabling had been installed. It was agreed that Schindler will shut down the elevators so that ADP teams may install step down inverters to take the 18 gauge data cabling to Cat6 data cabling. ADP will then be able to install the required security cameras. Mr. Antenucci stated the camera feed will be available to Mr. Daisher, Mrs. Lane and Mrs. McGinnis once they complete the move to the GCOB.
BOE Data Center Fire Suppression System - Mr. Antenucci said the Secretary of State (SOS) denied ADP’s request to move the BOE server to an alternate space that lacked a fire suppression system. He also noted that the recently released security directive (see below) makes clear that a water-based fire suppression system is not an option. Because the server must remain in its current space, it is necessary to cap the data center’s water supply and install a chemical or gas-based fire suppression system. ADP is researching a chemical agent fire suppression system, but the building department has indicated it will not cap the water supply because the fire marshall asserts it will create a fire hazard.
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Board members agreed that unless the elevator camera and data center projects are complete, they will be unable to move to the GCOB.
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The Board decided to invite the new County Administrator, Amy Bevan, to their next meeting and to hold the meeting at GCOB.
Observer Note: The Ohio Secretary of State recently issued Directive 2025-29, Security of Critical Infrastructure, dated May 29, 2025 which states in part:
Proper physical security of the board office protects personnel, voting equipment,voting systems, and other IT systems to maintain the confidentiality and integrity of elections. Risks, such as damage from fire or water and unauthorized physical access, must be reduced whenever possible. All requirements must be completed by August 29, 2025.
Geauga’s plans to store voting equipment in an area with overhead water lines appears to be at odds with Directive 2025-29.
Reviewer Note: Please see the LWV Geauga Observer Report for November 26, 2024, which documents extensive discussion on this topic. A portion of that report is shared here:
Long term, they [the Board] view the current Library Administration Center as being the preferred location for the Board of Elections. Specific concerns about the GCOB include:
1) Unreasonable Risk of Water Damage to Voting Equipment - BOE asserts that overhead water and sewer pipes in the basement storage area are a constant threat to the voting equipment and therefore threaten the BOE’s ability to carry out elections. The Secretary of State (SOS) requires that voting equipment be stored in a climate controlled space that maintains acceptable temperature and humidity levels. The equipment manufacturers also have storage and handling requirements that must be met to maintain warranties.
The Commissioners previously denied BOE’s request to store voting equipment off-site and to repurpose the storage space for other needs. BOE asserted this arrangement would safeguard vital voting equipment while also providing space for poll worker training and capacity for early voting. Commissioners also denied installation of a waterless fire suppression system.
To mitigate the risk of water damage, the Commissioners recommend vinyl covers for the voting equipment even though the manufacturer advises that this level of protection is insufficient to maintain their warranty. In the event of a burst pipe, Commissioners have agreed to pay for replacement of the equipment.
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Mrs. Carson commented, “They don’t think it’s going to happen.”
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Mrs. Windnagel continued, “And when we try to tell them if there’s a water main break, you know, a week before the election, you're not going to get the machines. There's no way that in one week's time we can replace them.”
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Ms. Rupinski, SOS Regional Liaison, stated, “There's another board that's moving out of their location because of pipes above their machines.” She noted that the Commissioners appear to be planning for best case scenarios, while they, as election officials, must plan for worst case scenarios.
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Mrs. Carson said, “We’ve been telling them what we need - it’s not like this just came up. We’ve got years of correspondence.”
Post Election Audit: The board moved from the conference room to BOE office space where the audit was being conducted. There was no livestream feed in the audit space so virtual participants were unable to view this portion of the meeting. Reviewer Note: There were no observers of the post election audit either in person or virtually. Observers are permitted but not required as specified on p. 357 of SOS Directive 2025-13 Post-Election Activities.
As reported in the May 22, 2025 Election Certification Meeting, the board determined that ballots from Hunting Valley Village, Hambden Twp C, South Russell Village B, Bainbridge Twp H and Munson Twp A would be hand-counted by bipartisan teams. In addition, votes in those precincts for State Issue 2, the Geauga Department of Aging levy, and the Geauga Department of Job and Family Services levy would also be hand-counted.
The Board reconvened in the conference room at 10:37 am, and Mr. Daisher announced that for all precincts and races, 100% accuracy was achieved, with the hand-counted totals matching the machine-scanned totals that were reported as unofficial results on Election night. The Board voted 4-0 to accept the results of the audit.
Director Report - Mrs. Lane reported she is reviewing the SOS Security Directive and has sent the Public Records Policy for review to Kristen Rine at the Prosecutor’s Office.
Deputy Director Report - Mrs. McGinnis reported she has been updating the grant spreadsheet to account for allowable expenses for the May election. They have spent about $100,000 of the $139,000 in funding awarded. Any unspent balance will be returned to the Secretary of State.
Not on Agenda - Mrs. Carson reported that she will be meeting with members of the Ohio Association Election Officials (OAEO) and the County Commissioners Association of Ohio (CCAO) regarding a proposal to increase county precinct size from 1,400 registered voters to 2,400 registered voters. She is concerned that the larger precincts will cause long lines.
Adjourned at 11:06 am.
Next Meeting: Regular Meeting on June 18, 2025 at 9:00 AM at the GCOB BOE office, located in the basement of 12611 Ravenwood Drive, Chardon, OH 44024.
Observer: Shelly Lewis
Editor: Carol Benton
Reviewers: Sarah McGlone
Date Submitted: 6/19/2025
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